This is a long-term project I’ve been working on that is getting close to completion. It will be the second gun I’ve built for the owner and, as with the first pistol, this gun has an overall theme and style to be incorporated into the build.
One of the modifications that plays into the styling of this gun is a squared and checkered trigger guard. Although quite popular on custom 1911s of the ‘70s and ‘80s it’s not something that is seen as much on the custom builds being done today. Never the less, the squared and checkered trigger guard goes perfectly with the theme of this gun and the photos below show the basics of how I progressed through the modification.
Stay tuned for a pictorial once the entire pistol is completed.
Here you can see the pistol before the trigger guard modification. The “L” shaped piece in the photo is the trigger guard insert that I made.
Machining the stock Colt trigger guard.
Here the trigger guard insert has been shaped and sized and is ready to weld.
Trigger guard insert welded to frame and ready for initial shaping.
The initial blending and shaping of the trigger guard.
After and bit more weld and some more shaping the trigger guard is ready to be checkered.
The newly squared trigger guard hand-checkered at 40lpi.
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